1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in an adjustable color guard flag pole weight. More particularly, the present adjustable flag pole weight is inserted and retained in the hollow interior diameter of a flag pole. The insertable retainer includes a threaded based member where one or more weights can be secured to the retainer to alter the weight of the flag pole used in color guard.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
Occasionally, the silk of a color guard flag pole is lightweight enough that additional weight is not needed to balance out the pole. For larger or heavier silks or for times when the performer will be performing a great deal of spinning against the wind, weighting the pole can dramatically improve the ease of rotation of the flag pole. Weighting a color guard flag pole helps to counteract the drag created when the silk catches the wind. If the flag pole is weighted properly, the weight helps to balance the pole and improve the ease of rotation for both the spinning and the tossing.
There are several ways that people have weighted flag pole poles. Some methods include inserting PVC sleeves inside the flag pole. Another common method is to tape pennies inside the ends of the flag pole. The most common method used to weight a color guard flag pole is with insertion of a ½ inch carriage bolt. The carriage bolts can be purchased in various lengths to provide different weights by removing a bolt of one length and replacing it with a bolt of a different length. Some companies offer flag pole weights that are fixed in weight, and removal of the weights is often difficult because the weight sticks inside the pole and must be destroyed upon removal.
There are a number of patents that have been issued that work to plug the end of a pipe. The majority of theses plugs use a metallic cone or an elastomeric washer that is squeezed to expand and fill and seal the plug within the inside diameter of the pipe. While these devices grip the inside of the pipe, they are not configured for the addition of weights. A number of these seals also are not removable and permanently seal the open end of a pipe.
There are also a number of patents for dumbbells or the like that use weights that are threaded into the handle of the dumbbell to alter the weight of the dumbbell. While these dumbbells provide a variable weight to the dumbbell they are not configured to fit within the tubular shaft of a color guard flag pole.
What is needed is an adjustable color guard flag pole weight that is insertable and expandable into the tube of a color guard flag pole and is also removable. The ideal product also includes the ability to change the weight by adding or removing threaded weights into the insertable member. The proposed color guard adjustable flag pole weight provides a solution to the problem of easily changing the precise weight of a color guard flag pole.